The Gap Between A Woman’s Thighs – Natural Or Unnatural?

This year I am 37 and I was given the impression that to have a gap between my thighs was normal, a desired thing by most women. Coming from a family of tree trunk thighs, I thought that this was my lot when it came to my legs, however I soon discovered that it was just a myth and with exercise and not eating so many unhealthy stodgy foods, the tree trunks were no longer tree trunks. I don’t have slim legs. This is a given, but I also don’t have chunky thighs. That being said, even with slimmer thighs, they still meet and touch.

Certain times of the month I have water retention and I recognise that they are more obvious in their touching and I would see images of women on the beach in the media, celebrities, models, and I thought, yes, a gap between the thighs is something to be aimed for. This is not so.

A gap between the thighs is ‘mostly’ unhealthy. I say mostly because some women naturally have a gap between their thighs, generally those with naturally wider hips, so naturally it is healthy for some women. But this is not what the fashion and beauty industry would have us believe. We are led to believe that a thigh gap is something to aim for, and if the fashion and beauty industry hasn’t damaged women’s self esteem enough with constant airbrushing, they are aiming to lop off healthy fat from women’s thighs to bring to our attention ‘their’ version of perfection.

There are even surgeons encouraging this craze by removing fat so that women have a thigh gap – even when it is not natural for their shape.

When I was younger, bow-legged was a condition where thigh gap happened. This could be due to excessive horse riding or health conditions. But now it seems to be a craze that is threatening to further damage young women especially their sense of body image and worth.

And I am in no way here to attack women who naturally have a thigh gap, but to simply bring to women’s attention that if you don’t naturally have one, it’s not good to try to make yourself have one or beat yourself up for not having one.

Take a look at the women with no thigh gaps:

The Iconic Marilyn Monroe and Jennifer Lawrence

Sandro Botticelli -The Birth Of Venus.

The troubling thing I noticed on social networks was the opinions of some men regarding the thigh gap phenomenon. Some actually believed that a thigh gap meant a woman was more promiscuous and had more sexual partners. In other words an easy lay.

People Encouraging The Phenomenon

There are countless websites and videos on how to get the thigh gap, which is creating a new surge of eating disorders among young women. I won’t give the sites a Google ranking by sharing them here, but they are disturbing to say the least.

I am sure that any good health and fitness expert would not encourage trying to create a false thigh gap, but instead a greater appreciation of a women’s health in general. To be healthy in a more balanced way.

The Outer May Fade The Inner Will Not

And with all this ongoing constant focus on the outer self, younger women are not being gifted the education and wisdom that they could have a thigh gap or no thigh gap, be fat or thin. Focusing on more than just the skin is the way forward. Some day I would love to see the school curriculum include classes on women’s and men’s self esteem, and where it really comes from, not the false misrepresentations of self worth and self esteem we are given early on in life.

A thigh gap according to Laura Tosi, a pediatric orthopedist and Director of the bone health program at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. says that a number of factors come into whether a woman has a significant gap. These include genetics, ethnicity, pelvic size and width.

So if you are reading this and desiring a thigh gap it may be not healthy for you. Try and look at role models with no thigh gaps to make you feel better about your body. You are uniquely you and we have enough copies in this world today.

The Pendulum Swings

From what I see at the moment the pendulum is swinging to extremes. The media is encouraging a continued warped view of beauty and there is a large swing of people thinking fat is bad and thin is better and also turned around to fat is beautiful and thin is ugly. We need to move to the centre and realise that our worth is far more than the skin we are in.

We need to understand that the media’s definition of beauty equals thin is a very ‘western’ view. In many parts of the world, for a woman to be fat shows that she is both healthy and wealthy.

What are your views on the thigh gap phenomenon? Healthy? Unhealthy? Undecided?

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Kelly Martin

Kelly Martin is the author of ‘When Everyone Shines But You’ , a passionate writer and blogger questioning life’s illusions. After what seemed like a decade of intense anxiety, feelings of failure and grief from the loss of her father she chose to take a mindfulness path and has not looked back since. Kelly encourages people to find the treasures that lie within the pain and suffering and to learn to see themselves as ‘enough’ exactly as they are, right now through her writing and You Tube channel .

Hi Kelly loved your blog!! I have been slightly bow-legged ever since I can remember, which means I have a 'thigh gap' even though my legs aren't on the lean side of the spectrum. However I just wanted to share that when I was little I danced ballet, and my teacher would always give me exercises on how to get rid of my thigh gap and bowed legs because it wasn't desired and puts extra pressure on your knees and ankles. How times have changed!!

I'd never even heard of this before – and as we are born who we are, why should it matter if we have a gap between our thighs or not? It's the person inside that counts. It's the press that makes us seem shallow and self-centred. Be who you are, you are lovely.

Oh interesting Lei, to hear your side. It seems people want to change their natural shape so much and are encouraged to do so. Isn't it crazy that people want to force the body to do something it does not?

I agree, does it matter if you have a gap or not? I'd prefer for people to think of me as a nice person rather than the first thing they remember about me is I have a gap at the top of my legs! If that's all people have to worry about, then they're very lucky ……..but also need to get a life!